Adhesive tape



July 17, 1951 p, McBURNEY ETAL 2,561,063

ADHESIVE TAPE Filed Aug. 14, 1946 2-POLYETHYLENE COATING Q A A A VIIIIIIIIIII/I4 3-PRESSURE SENSITIVE ADHESIVE MASS I BASE BRIC W ATTORNEY IN VEN TORS Patented July 17, 1951 T UNITED STATES PATENT O FFI-CE.

ADHESIVE TAFE Dor'man McBurney, Swarthmore, P'a-.-, and Raymond E. Thomas, Newburg-h, N51. assign'o'rsto E. I. du Pontide Ne'inours.& Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporationof Delaware Application August'14, 1946, SerialNo; 690.548

2 Claims.

This invention relates to adhesive tape, and

more particularly to cleanable backing for ad'- hesive tape, and still more particularly to cleanable backing for adhesive tape for medical and surgical use. .I-Iereto'fore, it has been customary to makeadhesive tape by applying a pressure sensitive adhesiverubber mass directly on one side of a thin sheeting; however, such a material hasthe disadvantage of becoming soiled veryrapidly and must be replaced frequently by clean surgical tape, which usually has a deleterious effect on the Wound. More recently it has been proposed to render the fabric waterproof and cleanable by applying a film of aplasticized cellulose derive.- five-composition on the-side of the fabric opposite the rubber mass. This material represents marked advantages over the non-treated fabric with respect. t resistance to soiling andcleanability. It has also been proposed to formulate the cellulose derivative coating in order that the adhesive tape can be sterilized without the cellulose-derivative coating decomposing under conditions necessary to render the adhesivetape sterile. Most of the common plasticizers for cellulose derivatives have a deleterious effect on the rubber adhesive mass opposite the cellulose derivative coating. The effect of the cellulose derivative plasticizer on the rubber adhesive mass is. particularly pronounced when thematerial isstored in roll form-prior touse Where there is direct contact-of theplasticizedcellulose deriv ative coating, and the rubber adhesive mass.

This-invention hasas an objectthe' provision of a-clean'able, waterproof backing material for pressure sensitive adhesive tape or surgical'plaster. A further object'is the provision of a chemic'allyinert; flexible, cleanable and waterproof coating-for adhesive tapebacking which does not contain a-plasticizer andis innocuous to the rubber adhesive mass applied on the side of the backing opposite the flexible waterproof and cleanable coating. A still further object is the provision of a coating for adhesive tape backing which will notdecompose under conditions nec-- essary to render the adhesive tape sterile.

The objects'of this invention are accomplished by applying to one'side of a woven or non-Woven flexible base material a suitable cleanable, water proof, flexible coating comprising polymerized ethylene as the major film-forming ingredient, together with pigments if desired for the purposes of coloring the coating, and applying to the opposite side of the base materialsuitable pressure-sensitive adhesive composition.

In the-drawing the single figure represents a diagrammatic cross section of a portion of mate'- "hesi've composition.

The invention is best illustrated by a descrip tion-of the preferred embodiment but it is to be understood that the "invention is not limited thereto except as defined in the appended claims. EXAMPLE I A- plain weave cotton fabric weighin -approximately 3.78 ozs./linear yard-40 inches wide,- and having a thread c'ountof warp and 80 filler Which'ha's been bleached by any conventional method well known in the ar'tof bleachingf'abrics was made water repellent inaccordancewith the disclosure in U. srPatent 2,118;1 01, issued May 24; 1938, to E.- H. Nollau et 2.1., or by the process disclosed in U. S. Patent 2,187,563, issued Januarylfi, 1940, to R. E. Thomas. While the water repellent treatment is preferred, it is' not an essential part of the invention. After the fabric was rendered water repellent in the conventional manner, there was'ap'plied to oneside by means of a doctor knife a plurality of coats of the followingicoating composition:

Waterproof coating Per cent Polymerized ethylene 10 Titanium dioxide pigment (2 parts) dispersed in polymerized ethylene (-1 part) ..30 Toluol -60 The"polymerized ethylen may be prepared'in accordance with U. S. Patent 2,153,553. issued April 11 1939, to E. W. Fawcett et al. The pigment was dispersed in the polymerized ethylene by a conventional method of milling pigments in film forming compositions as is well known in the rubber industry. The polymerized ethylenepigment mass in which the pigment is thoroughly dispersed in the ratio of 2 parts of pigment to 1 part o'fpolymer'ized ethylene was dissolved in the tomcrat a? temperature of -190" 6 At this elevated-temperature the solution was complete and of a fluid nature. At lower temperatures the coating composition Will set to a solid gel, and vit -is therefore necessary to maintain the composition at elevated temperaturesduringI-the application to the fabric backing. The composi= tion was appliedby means of the apparatus .disclos'e'd in" U1 Si -Patent 2;1'07,276, issuedFebruary bossing apparatus to emboss a pattern on the coating surface. The purpose of the embossing,

operation is twofold: first, to enhance the appearance, and second, to improve the bond of the coating to the base fabric. In the embossing operation one of the embossing elements was a heated steel engraved roll and the other was a paper roll carrying a design counter to the steel 7 roll. Embossing plates may also be used in which case an engraved, heated, steel plate is" pressed against the coated fabric supported by a fibrous embossing bed. During the embossing operation a pressure of approximately 40 to 50 tons was applied to the axis of the heated steel roll to force it against the paper counter roll. The temperature of the steel roll Was approximately 225 C.

It is sometimes desirable to treat the embossed material to restore the fibers of the base fabric to their condition prior to the embossing operation in order to prepare the uncoated side of the fabric for the application of the rubber pressure-sensitive adhesive mass. This may be accomplished by the method set forth in U. S. Patent 2,137,969, issued November 22, 1938 to R. E. Thomas, wherein the embossed fabric is subjected to an aqueous treatment followed by drying under suitable conditions, for example, a tenter frame. The aqueous treatment of the coated fabric after embossing is disclosed and claimed in the aforementioned U. S. Patent 2,137,969, and forms no part of this invention per se.

To the uncoated side of the material thus prepared was applied by spreading a suitable quantity of a conventional pressure-sensitive rubber adhesive mass by any desired method of application. Suitable compositions for the pressuresensitive adhesive mass are disclosed in U. S. Patent 2,137,969. Other examples of such compositions and their mode of application are also disclosed in The Chemical Formulary by Bennett, volume 2, page 366, D. Van Nostrand Co., New York (1935), and The Pharmacopoeia'of the United States of Americaeleventh decennial revision, Mack Printing Co., Easton, Pa.

An adhesive tape material made in accordance with the procedure outlined above was packaged in conventional metal containers and after 18 months of room temperature storage, the rubber adhesive mass was in a satisfactory condition, and the polymerized ethylene coating showed no signs of deterioration.

EXAMPLE II The white waterproof coating of Example I can be replaced with the following unpigmented coating composition where a colorless transparent coating is desired:

Theabove. coating was prepared by dissolving the polymerized ethylene in hot (180-190 F.) toluol and applied in the same manner as outlined in Example I.

EXAMPLE III Per cent Polymerized ethylene 26.0 Titanium dioxide extended on a barium sulfate base in the ratio of 30 to 70 10.0 Polypropylene glycol sebacate 4.0 Toluol 60.0

A suitable plasticizer of this type is sold as Paraplex G25 by Resinous Products and Chemical Co., Philadelphia, Pa.

The above composition is employed where an extremely flexible coating is required, and as will a be seen, contains about 15.4% plasticizer based 'on the weight of the polymer of ethylene. The polypropylene glycol sebacate plasticizer is of the non-migrating type and will have appreciably no effect on the rubber adhesive mass applied on the side of the fabric opposite the coating.

White pigments other than titanium dioxide, such as, e. g., lithopone and zinc oxide may be used with satisfactory results. Colored pigments such as chrome yellow, chrome green, red oxide, ultramarine blue, etc., may be used alone or mixed to produce solid colors or used in conjunction with white pigments to produce tints if desired. Fillers may be used, such as e. g., china clay diatomaceous earth, mica, barytes, etc. for blending with other pigments. The choice of pigments depends upon the desired color of the waterproof coating. Pigments which contain copper and manganese are ordinarily to be avoided since these elements have a deleterious effect on rubber usually present in the pressure-sensitive adhesive.

While the examples show a base fabric of a particular construction, it is to be understood that other flexible fabrics may be used and a wide variation of fabrics, including unwoven fabrics and paper, is within the scope of this invention. Flexible fabrics made from synthetic fibers, such as e. g., nylon, rayon, glass, etc., both woven and non-woven, may be used for the purpose of this invention.

The primary advantage of this invention is that it provides a substantially chemically inert, flexible, waterproof coating for adhesive tape backing which does not require the use of plasticizers to migrate into the rubber adhesive mass while the waterproof coating is in direct contact with the rubber adhesive mass. A further advantage is that the waterproof coating can be sterilized without changing the properties of the coating or the pressure-sensitive adhesive.

It is apparent that many widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and

it is not intended to be limited except as indi- 5 proofing film contains about equal parts of a solid homo polymer of ethylene and titanium dioxide pigment. 4

DORMAN MoBURNEY. RAYMOND E. THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 839,383 Hall Dec. 25, 1906 2,118,101 Nollau et a1. May 24, 1938 2,201,877 Anderson May 21, 1940 Number Number 10 576,411

OTHER REFERENCES Myers, Polyethylene, article appearing in "Plastics magazine, Sept. 1944, Dgs. 39, 40, 42

15 and 43. 

1. A WASHABLE HEAT-STERILIZABLE SURGICAL ADHESIVE TAPE WHICH COMPRISES A LIGHT-WEIGHT TEXTILE FABRIC BASE COATED ON ONE SIDE WITH A SUBSTANTIAL LAYER OF A RUBBER PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE COMPOSITION AND COATED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE WITH AN ADHERENT PIGMENTED WATERPROOFING FILM CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A SOLID HOMO POLYMER OF ETHYLENE, PIGMENT, AND PLASTICIZER, THE SAID PLASTICIZER BEING POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL SEBACATE PRESENT IN AMOUNT NOT MORE THAN 15.4%, BASED ON THE WEIGHT OF THE SAID POLYMER OF ETHYLENE. 